WARTBURG SETS DIVERSITY ENROLLMENT RECORD

ANNIKA WALL, TRUMPET MANAGING EDITOR

Wartburg College set school records in incoming student GPA and total number of countries and states represented, according to the Fall 2019 enrollment and retention reports.

The reports are done at the beginning of Fall and Winter terms and at the end of the Summer term. This semester, 13% of the student body are U.S. students of color. International students, both white and non-white, make
up 8%.

“If we have 21% of our entire student body [either international or U.S. students of color], that’s very significant,” Edith Waldstein, Wartburg’s vice president for enrollment management, said.

Additionally, a record number of 59 countries and 38 states are represented in the total headcount of 1505 students. In the 2018 report, the head count was 1503. This year’s incoming students also has a school record 3.62 high school GPA. The group’s ACT composite score of 23.5.

Waldstein noted out of 436 incoming Wartburg students, 185 brought in three or more transfer credits. The incoming students include both transfer and first-year students.

Wartburg’s overall retention rate had a “nice increase,” as it raised to 87.1% from 85.5%. Wartburg retained 92.6% of international students, 88.4% of white U.S. students and 76.7% of U.S. students of color. Out of 17 students who did not report ethnicity, 16 returned, according to Waldstein.

For more information about enrollment and retention at Wartburg, contact Waldstein at edith. waldstein@wartburg.edu.